In 2017, GLAAD praised the increase of LGBTQ+ characters on streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu. In 2016, GLAAD reported that the highest number of LGBTQ characters they had recorded yet appeared in the 2016–2017 television season.
In 2014, GLAAD would comment that "children's programming has been slow to reflect the diversity its audience is experiencing in its daily life." In 2015, GLAAD expanded their analysis to include LGBTQ+ characters on stream services like Amazon and Netflix for the first time. They stated that most animated LGBT characters were on FOX, lamenting that while South Park historically had LGBT characters and storylines, it could be "hit or miss" like Family Guy. In later years, GLAAD painted a bleaker picture, noting that no black LGBT characters were regular characters on television networks, again noting American Dad, The Simpsons, and Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. In 2008, GLAAD assessed the "considerable" LGBTQ+ representation in animated primetime programming," citing shows such as The Simpsons, American Dad, Sit Down, Shut Up, The Goode Family, Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, and Drawn Together, even as they had their reservations about existing LGBTQ+ characters on television. In a report the next year, they noted in the 2007–2008 season, the FOX network only featured LGBT characters in animated comedies like The Simpsons and American Dad. They noted in the regular 2006–2007 season, LGBTQ+ characters only comprised 1.3% of all regular characters on major broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, The CW, and UPN). GLAAD, for their part, bemoaned the lack of LGBT representation. It would not be until 2005 that GLAAD would began their annual “Where We Are on TV” report" starting its continuing effort to compile statistics on characters in the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups.
There was under-representation of gay characters through the Fall 2000 television season for all broadcast shows, with trend continuing until at least 2003. Shows like The Simpsons and South Park especially would be influential on other adult animations in the years to come.
In the 1990s, characters on Fox and Comedy Central shows comprised most of the LGBTQ characters on television. Some argued that the Walt Disney Company played with gender stereotypes in the past, featuring effeminate or "sissy" characters, or those coded as gay, which occurred while the characters were comedic and kept at arms length. Gender has always been a component of animation, with scholars Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin writing that animation has always "hint at the performative nature of gender." They specifically cite the example of Bugs Bunny wearing a wig and a dress, acting as a female rabbit in drag.
It does not focus on LGBTQ characters in anime series or films, which is examined on the LGBT themes in anime and manga page. This page will show this progress by building off the lists of animated series which contain these characters and explain the History of LGBT characters in animation. It would not be until the advent of shows like Steven Universe and Adventure Time in the 2010s, that LGBTQ+ characters in animation would gain more of a prominent role, leading to shows such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power in 2018 and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts in 2020, along with other series in the 2020s. In the 2000s, series like Queer Duck, The Oblongs, The Venture Bros., Drawn Together, and Archer would air. In the early 2000s, LGBTQ+ representation increased in Western animation, culminating in GLAAD's "Where We Are in TV" report in 2005, even as representation in such animation was scattered and disparate. In the 1990s, LGBTQ characters were depicted in animated series like South Park, The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and The Simpsons. For LGBT characters in Cartoon Network shows, see Cartoon Network and LGBT representation.įor many years, LGBTQ representation increased on animated series and animated films. For LGBT characters in adult animations, see LGBT representation in American adult animation. For LGBTQ characters in animated web series, see LGBT representation in animated web series. For Netflix and shows with LGBTQ representation, see Netflix and LGBT representation in animation.